Republican support from African-Americans strong in La., organizer says

In just more than a week, voters will cast their ballots in the presidential election.

Overall, polls show a statistical dead heat between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney.

However, among black voters, polls put Romney support at little to none.

Wallace Lucas, an African-American organizer in the Louisiana GOP Central Committee, believes the numbers showing support for Romney are in error.

Lucas believes Romney will get 4 percent of the black vote or higher. Lucas said while many may not discuss it publicly, black conservatives are more common in Louisiana.

“Republicans hold all of the statewide offices. They are getting those votes from somewhere, not just registered Republicans,” Lucas said.

Lucas did not start out a Republican, but as an independent. He eventually joined the GOP and said the tenants of the party are what attracted him such as smaller government, conservative spending and limited social programs.

He admits the party he joined more than 30 years ago is a lot different now.

“Looks like they just spend money. Looks like Democrats spend a lot of money and it looks like Republicans spend a lot of money,” he said.

Still, Lucas is very active in the party, though sometimes his views are more Libertarian than Republican.

Lucas said he was a Ron Paul delegate at the GOP convention in Florida even though Paul did not get the nomination.

Lucas said he is standing united around the guy that's the nominee now – Romney.

It’s that position that has caused quite a stir for some African-Americans. Actress Stacy Dash was lambasted on social media for endorsing Romney and hip-hop artist Nicki Minaj made headlines for what some took as a Romney support in her rap lyrics.

However, Lucas said historically, blacks have voted Republican, pointing to prominent figures from black history like Booker T. Washington, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.

The fact is, post-reconstruction, many blacks voted republican as the party of Lincoln, the president who ended slavery.

Looking at the party now, Lucas admits there could be more diversity in the ranks.

“The Republican Party has to do a lot as far as outreach goes as far as reaching minorities,” he said. “I don’t think the Democratic Party does a lot of outreach for blacks. It's like you wake up and you become a Democrat.”

It's what appears to be blind Democratic support from African-Americans that Lucas challenges any time he's questioned about his political views.

“If they tell me 'Why are you not voting for Barack?’ I say, ‘Well, why are you voting for Barack?’" Lucas said.

Even with conservative views, Lucas said the historic nature of Obama's candidacy, nomination and election was not lost on him and much to the chagrin of his fellow party members on Nov. 4, 2008, he cast his ballot for Obama as the 44th president of the United States.

“Not that I agree with his policies, I was excited because he was a black guy that got elected to be president or was in position to become president as a black man in the United States,” Lucas said.

Lucas is a married father of four, is a businessman who started his own insurance company 35 years ago and prides himself on building his company.

“I would say that black people as a whole, they can’t put all of their eggs in one basket by always voting for the Democratic candidate,” he said. “If the Democratic Party is doing a wonderful job for us, why are we in such bad shape?”

“Keep voting for the Democrats. You are going to keep getting the same thing you are getting now -- absolutely nothing, in my view,” Lucas said.

TheJoint Center for Economic and Political Studies put the number of black delegates at the Republicanconvention this year at 46 -- about 2 percent of the delegate population. That’s up from 2008 numbers, but far fewer than the number of black delegates at the 2004 convention, where there were 167 black delegates.

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